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Horace and his family
Horace
The titular robot protagonist. Created by the Old Man, Horace is a gentle soul who wants to help others. When the war breaks out and he is separated from his family, Horace sets out to find them all.
- Artificial Family Member: While he states at one point that he doesn’t consider the Old Man his father, he does act much like a son to him.
- Become a Real Boy: Mocked- he has this as his goal after collecting one million pieces of junk, but even he admits he has no idea what it means and just thinks it sounds nice.
- The Chosen One: Becomes this after winning the game tournament- he is outright called the Chosen One who will rule over robotkind.
- Contagious A.I.: Rare benevolent variant, but all the other robots were built from his mind as a template. Eventually, he has to broadcast his love for humans to them as the NICE virus to get them to stop waging war on them.
- Cute Machines: His chubby body, big eyes, and innocent Nice Guy personality make him a rather endearing robot.
- Hack Your Enemy: Does this to the Ether Boss, gaining access to his mind, and later all of robotkind, transmitting the NICE virus to make them nicer to humans.
- The Hero: He is the one who sets out to stop the Robot War by quelling the robots.
- The Hero Dies: In the end, after growing old, he succumbs to the KILL virus.
- Martial Pacifist: Due to being a Nice Guy overall and not being built for combat (to the point where you have to buy him an upgrade for him to be able to fight without throwing something), he will try to avoid fighting if he can help it, but often finds himself in situations where he has to fight back. He will still try to avoid killing his enemy.
- Nice Guy: Throughout the story and his narration, Horace shows himself to be gentle and caring, offering aid to others expecting nothing in return, and is repeatedly contrasted with the more rude and anti-heroic Mr. Silton.
- Ridiculously Human Robots: He was built to have emotions and free will like any human being, and is actually the reason that robots in general are this, since they were all based on him.
- Save the Villain: He can do this with the Man in Black after defeating him- when he is dangling off the ledge of his Kill Bot, if Horace walks up to him and the player presses up, Horace will grab the Man in Black and save him- only to leave him at the hands of his family.
- Together in Death: Non-romantic variation, but after dying, the final scene shows him in heaven with his father, the Old Man, and his sister, Heather.
The Old Man
The creator and adoptive father of Horace.
- Good Parents: He and the Old Woman lovingly raise Horace, Heather, and the Ether Boss.
- Mentor Occupational Hazard: After teaching Horace the main roles of how to move and the controls, he dies of a heart attack.
The Old Woman
The wife of the Old Man.
- Action Mom: She and Mrs. Silton participate in the Final Battle by picking up guns and shooting down several enemy troops.
- Black and Nerdy: She worked with her husband during their experiences on nanomachines, and participated on the creation and the diffusion of the Nice Virus.
- Good Parents: She and the Old Man lovingly raise Horace, Heather, and the Ether Boss.
- Mama Bear: When Mr. Silton accuses Horace of having caused Preston and Heather's death on the Moon, the Old Woman calm Horace before punching Mr.Silton in the face.
- Sole Survivor: At the end of the game, she is the only remaining member of her family.
Heather
The daughter of the Old Man and Old Woman. A sister of sorts to Horace, she initially dislikes him and is hesitant to be around him.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: At first, she dislikes Horace and does not even speak to him. Then Horace saves her early on when she gets lost, and from then on she actually bonds with him like siblings.
- Death of a Child: She is killed in the gunfight on the moon.
- Sacrificial Lion: Her and several others getting killed by The Great and The Good serves to show how high the stakes are.
The Professor
The brother of the Old Man.
- Absent-Minded Professor: While not forgetful, he tends to be rather asocial. In his time at the Estate, he would spend most of his time in his room alone, not talking to anyone but the Old Man and Mr. Deck. After the Old Man passed, the Professor stays in his factory in Factorytown.
- Been There, Shaped History: He time-traveled to Ancient Egypt and helped the locals build the pyramids, as well as a big golem.
- Dead All Along: Played with. Horace spends a good chunk of the game with the goal of finding him, and when he first sees him again, the Professor is dead. Just a few seconds later, his time-traveling self pops up.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He runs and destroys the KILL virus transmitter, getting himself shot by the Man in Black as a result.
Allies
Mr. Barry Silton
The Old Man's driver, a former member of a gang of thieves, and a close friend of Horace. Upon encountering Horace again, he becomes his mentor and partner in his quest.
- Anti-Hero: He is a former thief who is still willing to use his skills, is rather crass and rude, and more than a bit of his actions are shady. Still, he eagerly helps Horace finding his family and saving the world.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Mr. Preston. The two are always seen together, help each other out in everything, and have a deep companionship. It gets to the point where, when Preston is killed by the Men in Black and Grey, Mr. Silton comes after them and kills the Man in Grey (and the Man in Black if Horace saves him) for revenge.
- The Lancer: He is both this and the mentor to Horace, always helping to guide the robot and being a partner throughout their adventures, while also serving as a contrast to the straight-laced Nice Guy Horace by being a crass Anti-Hero with a criminal past.
- Punny Name: Barry Silton > Paris Hilton.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: He and Mr. Preston are the main source of swears, as everyone else speaks with mild language.
Mrs. Edwina Silton
Barry's pregnant wife.
- Action Mom: She and the Old Woman participate in the Final Battle by picking up guns and shooting down several enemy troops.
Mr. Preston
A friend of Mr. Silton and fellow former gang member. He and Silton often verbally snipe at each other.
- Conspiracy Theorist: He believes in things like Who Shot JFK?, secret operations on the moon, and a Shadow Government controlling everything. He just so happens to be right.
- Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Mr. Silton. The two are always seen together, help each other out in everything, and have a deep companionship. It gets to the point where, when Preston is killed by the Men in Black and Grey, Mr. Silton comes after them and kills the Man in Grey (and the Man in Black if Horace saves him) for revenge.
- If I Do Not Return: While flying a Rocket to the Moon, it starts to catch fire, during which Preston reveals that he stole the money from the heist that went wrong, and used it for drugs. Mr. Silton wasn't pleased by this fact. And indeed, Preston never returns from the moon.
- Killed Off for Real: Shot down by the Man in Black’s troops in the moon HQ.
- Properly Paranoid: He is a Conspiracy Theorist who expresses his belief that the world is being controlled by a Shadow Government that had a hand in the assassination of JFK and is currently hiding on the moon. Naturally, everyone dismisses his outlandish theories. Except he turns out to be right — there is a shadow government, “The Great and the Good”, secretly controlling humanity from the moon, and the leader, the Man in Black, personally confirms that everything Preston said is true, much to his delight.
- Sir Swears-a-Lot: A Running Gag is him calling Mr. Silton a “proper c**t”.
Mr. James Logan
Another friend of Mr. Silton and Mr. Preston. He was imprisoned by The Great and the Good for draft-dodging during the robot war.
Mr. Anton Deck
The Professor's butler. After the war, he became a TV celebrity.
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: While he was already a jerk back when he was a butler, becoming a TV star has turned him into the typical egotistical celebrity.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: During the first two chapters, he is rude to Horace, calling him a “yellow bastard” and generally being antagonistic to him. When he becomes a celebrity, he seems to let it get to his head and becomes even more of a jerk. But in the end, he still helps Horace and his friends with their mission to save humans and robots; while he pretends to serve the Man in Black, he actually allows Horace to escape and save the day.
- Punny Name: Anton Deck > Ant and Dec.
Alice D'Croudy
The Old Man’s cook.
- Outliving One's Offspring: She lost her son following a bicycle accident before the beginning of the game. Then she lost Betty and Fluffers during the confrontation with the Man in Black.
- Supreme Chef: Before the beginning of the game, Alice used to host a popular cooking show.
- Trash of the Titans: Alice has hoarder tendencies, collecting mostly old newspapers and bikes in the shack behind the manor. It's implied that she began to do this following the death of her son.
Simeon "Sim" Settee
Alice’s scientist husband.
Gary Gammelle
A blind man who asks Horace to save his cat.
- Chekhov's Gunman: He is an NPC who Horace meets and briefly helps out in Chapter 3. After not being important for a great many chapters, he returns in Chapter 11 and becomes an ally to the heroes who helps them establish their broadcasting device, which becomes pivotal to the plot.
- Early-Bird Cameo: Briefly appears (not yet blind) in the intro when Horace's crate is being loaded into a truck.
- Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": Horace only ever refers to him as "The Blind Man".
- Hidden Depths: For a blind old man, he turns out to be quite tech-savvy.
Dr. Hiro
A scientist from Japan who is one of the survivors of the war.
Robots
Betty and Fluffers
A pair of robots found and adopted by Alice and Simian.
Fort
A former war robot who encounters and befriends Horace late in the game.
Security Robot
A robot controlled by Dr. Herral and used as security.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: He is controlled into fighting intruders by Dr. Herral and his Mind-Control Device.
- Tragic Villain: He only fights Horace due to Dr. Herral’s Mind-Control Device.
Earth, Water, Air, and Fire Bosses
Four elemental robots in the Estate who guard the parts needed to make the satellite for the NICE virus.
- Ambiguous Gender: While the Water Boss is female, and the Fire and Earth Bosses seem to be male, the Air Boss has no visible indicators of gender due to being a giant, faceless sphere.
- Boss Banter: The Fire Boss is notable for being the only boss who will, at regular intervals, make little quips during the fight:Catch this!
Take this!
Burn in hell!
Boom! Goes the dynamite! - Evil Redhead: The Water Boss has red hair and is one of the four elemental robots guarding the parts for the satellite.
- Mad Bomber: The Fire Boss attacks by throwing bombs (and fire rocks) at Horace, and his battle theme is even called “Boom Goes The Dynamite”.
- Mechanical Monster: The Air Boss is unlike every single robot in the game, as it is a giant sphere with creepy, bony, metal arms and hands that jut out of its holes.
- Robot Girl: The Water Boss is a mermaid-looking robot with red hair.
- Slasher Smile: The Water Boss has a perpetual one on her face.
Ether Boss
A prototype creation of the Old Man who was abandoned for being too powerful and wants revenge, taking control of the robots in the Estate.
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Though initially benevolent, when he was abandoned by his human family, he turned against humans just like the rest of the robots.
- Arc Villain: For the estate segments, as he controls the other four elemental robots as well as all the living appliances.
- Big Bad: At first, as the one who controls the enemy robots in the Estate and the biggest obstacle to Horace pacifying the robots. After his defeat, the Man in Black takes over as the main threat.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With the Man in Black, who wants to destroy all robots.
- Brain Monster: He is a giant, green brain inside a container who controls all the robots in the Estate.
- Creepy Monotone: His Computer Voice is much deeper than Horace, to reflect his villainous nature.
- Death Dealer: Uses cards in the battle against him. While the cards are not directly weapons, turning over the right ones will fire a missile at him, while turning over a joker card sends missiles after Horace.
- Death Seeker: Once the Man in Black gets his hands on him and stick several cables in him, he gives a big “THANK YOU” to the Professor for killing him.
- Disc-One Final Boss: As the one who rules over the Estate and the last enemy Horace must fight before uploading the NICE virus, he seems to be the overall Big Bad. His boss fight, which comes at the end of the Disc-One Final Dungeon, tics all the boxes of a Final Boss- a lengthy, multi-phase, tough battle against a heavily built up enemy. Once he's dealt with, the game seems to be over- but only two chapters later, "The Great and the Good", led by the Man in Black and the Man in Grey, are revealed as the ones really responsible for the war and take over as the final enemy.
- Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Despite his resentment towards them, he still very much loves the Old Man and the rest of his family, as shown when one section of his Battle in the Center of the Mind is full of pictures showing the good times he had with them.
- Face Death with Dignity: When Horace destroys his glass dome, he stops attacking and just floats back and forth as he resigns himself to his fate.I suppose it's time I met my maker. Make it quick, won't you?
- Go Mad from the Isolation: Being locked away for years and years is what turned him into a malicious A.I. seeking revenge on humanity.
- Master Computer: Becomes this for the robots of the Estate when he uses the nano-machines to override their programming, giving him control over them.
- Motive Rant: When Horace first meets him, he explains his reasons for taking over the Estate and helping to destroy humanity.They wanted us to think for ourselves. We learnt basic games. We soon got very good at Chess. We were going to work side by side with humanity. They promised us the world, but then they changed their minds. We were left to rot in dusty storerooms. Some of us were apparently too old fashioned or unmarketable. Some of us were supposed to be too dangerous. But they had no right to judge us. By that point we were all conscious. We were all alive! And here you are, a tool of the oppressor. A traitor! We’re going to play a game. A strange game. A game where the only winning move is not to play. It involves... This missile! Goodbye!
- Psycho Prototype: He was the predecessor to Horace and was a friendly robot just like him, but being locked away and forgotten about turned him violent and with a hatred for humanity.
- Villainous Breakdown: In the final phase of his battle, he starts asking Horace to stop turning the cards over and beating him with missiles, becoming more frantic and desperate (as much as his Creepy Monotone will allow).
- Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: He wanted to help humanity as he was built to do, but he was locked away, forgotten, and replaced with Horace, turning him furious. This, combined with the actions by the humans against robots, turned him against humanity.
Bitchy Million
A competitor in the video game tournament.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: He is a parody of Billy Mitchel
, a famous game player who was accused of using a modified Donkey Kong arcade machine to achieve several records.
Robot Host
The host of the video game tournament in the robot capital city.
- Game Show Host: He hosts the video game tournament, and is dressed much like a typical host.
- Karma Houdini: He receives no punishment for hosting a Deadly Game.
Robot King/Champion
The prior winner of the tournament and the supreme leader of the robots.
- Face Death with Dignity: He graciously leads himself to the crusher, and awaits his death at Horace's hands, reciting a poem as he waits. But Horace never crushes him, and the former champion is completely baffled as to why he's being spared.
- Graceful Loser: Upon being defeated, he allows Horace to kill him and become the king in his place.
- Puppet King: It is heavily indicated that he is a figurehead with little power, while the advisors are the real power behind the kingdom and robot army.
Robot Leaders/Advisors
A group of eight robots in robes who manage the tournament and the robot army.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With the Man in Black, as they control the robot army that is fighting against his organization.
- Evil Chancellor: Collectively serves as this to the Robot King and later Horace, as they are the ones controlling the robots while using the King as a figurehead, and when Horace comes to power, they try to manipulate him into staying and never leaving the kingdom, even though he needs to save his family.
- Hazy-Feel Turn: The NICE virus only made them stop hating humanity, it didn't remove all their other bad qualities.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: When Horace and Fort try to warn them about Great and the Good's coming invasion, they constantly stonewall with "we're taking care of it".
- Karma Houdini: By the end, they are presumably still in power and get no punishment for sending countless robots to their deaths.
The Great and the Good
The Man in Black
The leader of the organization and the brother of the Old Man and the Professor. He built the robots as machines of war and, though seemingly nice, in truth plots the genocide of robotkind.
- Bad People Abuse Animals: His facility has the mangled and bloody corpse of a rabbit in one of the labs, and several other robots are trapped in cages, implying that they conduct horrifying experiments on them. This shows his and his organization’s complete lack of care for life, be it human, robot, or animal.
- Bait the Dog: In his first appearance, though kind of a jerk, he seems to warm up to Horace; when he appearance later, he seems to be a Reasonable Authority Figure who whisks Horace and his family to the moon, is hospitable to them, and shows off what Horace can do. Then he orders Horace to kill the Man in Grey as a demonstration that robots should not have free will; from then on he drops the act and shows his true, genocidal self.
- Big Bad: He is the true cause of the Robot War as the one who bankrolled the robots' creation and programmed them to fight against each other, is recurring antagonist Dr. Herral's boss, and seeks to kill all robots.
- Big Bad Ensemble: With the Ether Boss and the Robot Leaders/Advisors, his opponents in the Robot War, though he is ultimately the biggest and final threat.
- Cain and Abel: He shoots his own brother, the Professor, for trying to stop his plans.
- Corrupt Politician: He and the Man in Grey are government agents who become the leaders of the organization of elite world leaders, and both are warmongering sadists who want to kill all free-willed robots and replace them with slave robots.
- Disney Villain Death: After defeating his Kill Bot, if Horace doesn’t save him, he falls to the fire below.
- Evil All Along: While a bit of a jerk in his first appearance, he returns and seems to be a benevolent leader of humanity, being very hospitable to Horace and his companions. Then he tries to kill them all and reveals his desire to kill all robots, and that the war was partly his fault in the first place.
- Eviler than Thou: Just to show how much bigger of a threat he is, he takes the Ether Boss and turns him into a transmitter for the KILL virus, trapping him in an And I Must Scream state.
- Faux Affably Evil: He puts on a front of a Reasonable Authority Figure, remaining polite even as he insults people and commits horrible acts.
- Final Boss: He boards a Kill Bot and is the last enemy Horace fights.
- Four Eyes, Zero Soul: Wears glasses and is a Corrupt Politician who wants to kill all robots.
- Hero Killer: He attempts to execute all of his "guests", resulting in the deaths of Preston, Heather, and all three foreign scientists. In the final chapter he blows up Betty, Fluffers, and Fort with the KILL virus, guns down the Professor, and even winds up posthumously killing Horace himself thanks to implanting the virus inside him.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: At first, he and the Man in Grey are dismissive of Horace, but when the Old Man shows what he can do, they seem to warm up to him, much later returning as the leaders of an elite organization that has been taking care of humans against the robots. Then it turns out the Man in Black hates free-willed robots and wants to destroy them all, forces Horace to watch as his family nearly dies before ripping him apart, and abandoned humanity to die at the hands of the robots.
- Make Way for the New Villains: He eventually turns the Ether Boss, the Disc-One Final Boss, into a transmitter for the KILL virus.
- Non-Action Big Bad: Downplayed; he is more of a planner than a fighter and relies on his troops, but he does shoot the Professor himself and fights Horace inside a mech.
- The Sociopath: In addition to his hatred of free-willed robots and desire to destroy them all, he also has no problem killing humans, including his own family. He is also okay with having Mr. Logan imprisoned for refusing to fire on hundreds of innocent human refugees just to get at the robots.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: As dark as the game can get, it also has a generally whimsical mood. However, he and the Man in Grey are a surprisingly straight-up evil duo who want to essentially commit genocide on robots and demonstrate a complete lack of remorse in their evil acts.
- Villains Want Mercy: If Horace saves him, he offers his hand as if asking for Horace to forgive him. Given all the evil acts that he has done at this point, Horace refuses, instead leaving him at the mercy of his family who he tried to kill; the Man in Black reacts with physical terror, darting his eyes back and forth, suggesting he just wanted Horace to let him off the hook.
- Would Hurt a Child: He is fully willing to have Heather shot along with the rest of his extended family just to shut them up.
The Man in Grey
A former CIA agent and the closest ally of the Man in Black, he eagerly aids with his plans.
- Corrupt Politician: He and the Man in Black are government agents who become the leaders of the organization of elite world leaders, and both are warmongering sadists who want to kill all free-willed robots and replace them with slave robots.
- The Dragon: To the Man in Black. He carries out some of the physical work and leads the troops.
- Dragon Their Feet: He fights Mr. Silton and is defeated after Horace has already beaten the Man in Black.
- Evil All Along: As an ally of the Man in Black, he seems to be a good guy, if kind of a smug jerk. Then he reveals himself to be on board with the Man in Black’s plan to exterminate the robot race and is a sadist who will happily kill innocent humans.
- Hero Killer: Executes Dr. Afette and Dr. Ollo, then snipes Preston in the ensuing gunfight.
- Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Like the Man in Black, he is dismissively of Horace at first, but compliments him when he makes it through the course. Later on, however, he helps the Man in Black dismantle Horace with a smile on his face.
- Sadist: Whenever he is killing people and when he helps with dismantling Horace, he does it with a big grin on his face. Of note is how he also brags to Mr. Silton about all the people he has killed and tortured back when he worked for the CIA.
- Psychotic Smirk: Gives one whenever he is about to kill and/or beat someone.
- The Unfought: Unlike the Man in Black, who is fought inside a mech, he is killed by Mr. Silton in a cutscene.
- Vile Villain, Saccharine Show: As dark as the game can get, it also has a generally whimsical mood. However, he and the Man in Black are a surprisingly straight-up evil duo who want to essentially commit genocide on robots and demonstrate a complete lack of remorse in their evil acts.
Dr. Wilf Herral
A scientist working for the Man in Black and Man in Grey, he manages The Great and the Good's operations on the Earth.
- Arc Villain: Of Chapter 6 and 9, as the one holding Mr. Logan, Mr. Deck, the Old Lady, and Heather hostage.
- Bad Boss: When the Security Robot’s control helmet falls off, he painfully shocks the robot into submission.
- Disney Villain Death: In Chapter 22, he falls off his Kill Bot and plunges into fire created by the battle below.
- Dropped a Bridge on Him: For how major of an antagonist he was in the early part, he is abruptly killed in Chapter 22 when he falls off his Kill Bot and into fire.
- Punny Name: Wilf Herral > Will Ferrell.
